Transcript Section 3: Vietnam Divides the Nation

Section 3:
Vietnam Divides the Nation
Chapter
A Growing Credibility Gap
•
‘65, there were many supporters
– Gallup Poll: 66% approved U.S. involvement
•
Approval ratings dropped
– Suspicious of the gov’s truthfulness about the war
– 1967: General Westmoreland “enemy was on the
brink of defeat”
•
Media painted a different picture
– First televised war
– Images of deceased and the wounded
•
Credibility Gap – hard to believe what the
Johnson admin. said about the war
An Anti-war Movement Emerges
• People began to protest the war
• Teach-Ins: March 1965
– Staff and students at U of M had a
teach-in
– Informally discussed the issues
– Inspired teach-ins at many schools
– By May, 122 colleges held a
“National Teach-In” by radio for
more than 100,000 antiwar
demonstrators
Teach In @ U. of Michigan
Reasons for protest:
1. Some saw the conflict as a civil war in which the U.S. had no business
2. Others viewed South Vietnam as a corrupt & immoral dictatorship
Anger at the Draft
• Young protestors focused on the
unfair draft system
• A college student could usually
defer military service until after
graduation
• Low-income families were more
likely to be sent to Vietnam
• By 1967: Afr. Americans
accounted for 20 of combat
deaths—2x their proportion of
the U.S. pop
– MLK speaks out in 1967
against the conflict
Increasing the Draft Call
• U.S. officials increased the draft call,
putting college students at risk
• 500,000 draftees refused to go
– Publically burned their draft cards
– Did not report when called for
induction
• Some fled the country to Canada,
Sweden, or other nations
• Others stayed and went to prison
rather than fight
The Draft & Voting Age
• 1965-68  Prosecuted over 3,300
Americans for refusing to serve
• 1969  Gov’t introduced a lottery system
– Low lottery numbers were subject to the
draft
• April 1965, Students for a Democratic
Society (SDS) organized a march on
Washington, D.C.
– 20,000 protestors
• Anger over the draft fueled debate about
the voting age
– Old enough to fight, but not vote??
– 1971: 26th Amendment
• Changed age to 18
Hawks & Doves
• Growing opposition, but
Johnson remained determined
– But the majority opinion 
68% favored continuing the
war
• 1968: Nation divided
– Doves: Wanted to withdraw
from Vietnam
– Hawks: Wanted to stay and
fight
Hawks v. Doves Activity
• With your group, carefully read each excerpt
to determine whether the speaker supports
(“Hawk”) or does not support (“Dove”)
increased U.S. military involvement in
Vietnam.
• On the appropriate side of your T-chart, write
the number of the excerpt and a short
summary in your own words of the
argument(s) the speaker uses to support his
position.
Summary
• Your group will use this information to help form
a recommendation on this question:
– Should the president significantly increase U.S.
military involvement in Vietnam?
– 6-8 sentences answering the question, support your
answer!!!
– Include and disprove a counter argument, to help
support your claim. (What would the other viewpoint
say in response?? Explain why that’s less important)